Steve's Plan
by Kagetora no Tsume
Summary: Steve had a plan. He was, after all, The Star Spangled Man With A Plan, and he didn't intend to change that anytime soon. Steve didn't simply rush into this blind. He'd had everything meticulously plotted out. Things just...didn't go the way he had hoped they would. (Or, "What Steve was actually thinking throughout Civil War.")


Steve had a plan.

He was, after all, _The Star Spangled Man With A Plan_ , and he didn't intend to change that anytime soon.

As soon as he figured out about the super soldiers, about the psychiatrist, he was already plotting his next move.

He'd boiled it down to five steps:

Step One: Have Sharon sneak his shield and the Falcon suit to them.

He wasn't going to take her along with them to Siberia, because she was already going to be in so much trouble for bringing him the weapons and the poor woman had already nearly been killed by a brainwashed super soldier once this week. That was plenty.

Step Two: Have Clint pick up Sam's contact - Scott Lang - and Wanda, and have everyone meet them in Germany for the connecting flight.

Clint was in retirement, but he was also the only one Steve knew that could fly one of the planes. He would need the man to get the other two members of his team to Germany and set up their ride to Siberia. Also, he was a damn good shot, and Steve could always count on him in a crisis.

Wanda was currently locked in the compound, and the last he'd seen her she was rather distraught about the Lagos incident. Having Senator Ross rub it in her face and then being interred there by Tony because the billionaire was afraid she would hurt more people couldn't have helped that any. Best case scenario, she'd be hesitant to use her magic on another mission. Worst case scenario, she would have gone right back into a depressive self-loathing and closed herself away in her room to torture herself with more news feeds.

Steve knew that if there was one person that could talk Wanda Maximoff out of a depression, it was Clint Barton - another reason for choosing the man - so he trusted the archer to help get her back out in the field. Vision was a concern, as Tony had likely told him to keep Wanda from leaving, but the synthetic being was sweet on Wanda, and Clint was clever. Between him and Wanda, he trusted them to figure something out.

Scott Lang was someone he had never heard of before, but if anyone could break into the compound and get out again after fighting an Avenger (yes, Sam, you are totally going to get teased about that until some point next century) then his skills would likely be quite valuable.

Step Three: On the way to Siberia, try to have Wanda turn off Bucky's Winter Soldier mode.

The last thing any of them needed was Zemo turning Bucky against them mid-fight. Wanda's powers meant that she could get into his head. Whether she would be able to shut down the programming or not, he wasn't sure, but at the very least she was a failsafe to put Bucky on the ground if they used the code words and turned him into the Winter Soldier on them.

Steve suspected that they might also meet some resistance at the airport, perhaps in the form of the German militia, but Wanda was a godsend when it came to mass telepathy. He'd watched her calmly clear an entire city of people in Sokovia with a little concentration and a wave of her hand. A few dozen men on a landing strip would be easy enough for her to re-route without a fuss. There didn't have to be any fighting.

Step Four: Arrive in Siberia, locate the lab, and have Scott break them in.

Hydra was fond of their death traps. Always had been. If they had been keeping something as dangerous and powerful as five super soldiers under cryo in this bunker, Steve was pretty damn sure they'd do something to protect it. That's where Scott came in. He could break into the lab without setting off any traps, shrinking his size and calling on insect helpers if need be. At least, according to Sam.

With the master thief on their side, nothing could keep them out.

Step Five: Take out the soldiers.

And that was where things got a little tricky.

Admittedly Steve had stolen his idea from Ultron's plan to take out the Avengers, back when the robot still had sway over Wanda and her brother.

Pietro had been a distraction. A heavy hitting distraction, grant it, but a distraction nonetheless. Wanda had been the one taking them out.

That was what Steve hoped to emulate here.

Steve and Bucky would have to take front line, as the only two enhanced of the group, and fight the soldiers head on. Scott could shrink, and Sam could fly, so the two of them could get in and out without getting hit too bad. Those two would serve as a point of confusion, drawing the soldiers' attention off of Wanda. Clint was on the ground, and better at a range, so his job would be guarding the little witch, making sure nothing got near her. And as for Wanda herself...

Steve wasn't sure how comfortable she would be with using her powers like she had in the past. He knew that as soon as she joined the Avengers she had focused on defensive strategies as opposed to the offensive tactics Hydra had taught her, but he also knew how debilitating a good dose of her nightmares could be. Especially for someone with a troubled past.

He would leave the exact method up to her, but there was no doubt in his mind that Wanda could take down all five of those super soldiers with minimal damage.

Step Six: After subduing the soldiers, have Clint fly Scott and Wanda back home before they got into trouble for helping him, and then he and Bucky and Sam would call in backup.

No one would know that Clint or Wanda or Scott had been helping him, outside of Laura Barton - who wouldn't turn them in - and possibly Vision - who he would have to leave to Wanda to talk around. The three of them could go back to the states and sit tight until the mess with the Accords was figured out. Wanda could even go back to the farm with Clint, if neither of them wanted to stuff her back under house arrest. The archer's family was very fond of her, and the poor girl could use a vacation anyway.

Once those three had a head start, Steve would call in Tony, T'Challa, and whatever military the UN decided to send after them. Steve, Bucky, and Sam would then hand themselves in, as well as turn over the five subdued super soldiers and Zemo.

T'challa would have the party that was really responsible for his father's death, and from there Steve could bullshit his way around some excuse as to why Sam should be left out of this mess. Bucky could go into further therapy (hopefully Wanda would have been able to help him with most of that back in step three), and Steve would take the fall, claiming full responsibility for everything that happened, so the rest of them didn't have to.

It had been the perfect plan. They would get to stop the super soldiers, T'Challa would have his justice, Bucky would be safe, Steve would finally get to meet the man who kicked Sam's ass (sorry Sam, never letting that drop), and it would give poor Wanda a chance to get back out in the field, to feel like she could be trusted on missions again after Lagos. All without getting Tony or Natasha or Rhody in trouble for breaking the Accords they'd just signed by entering a country that banned Avengers from crossing their borders.

It was all perfect.

...

And then it wasn't.

Tony had showed up at the airport, with Natasha and T'Challa and Rhody.

Steve had tried to explain why they needed to let him go, but Tony didn't trust his judgment when it came to Bucky, and put an end to the discussion before it could begin. There was no talking his way around it, so Steve had simply given the signal to run.

Time was ticking. They had to get to the jet, they had to get to Siberia. They had to stop those super soldiers from being weaponized.

He didn't have time to argue.

And then it had turned into a fight.

T'Challa had gone after Bucky, aiming to kill, and Steve had needed to fight the man off. At a distance, he could hear explosions as Tony cornered Wanda and Clint, just before Wanda emptied the parking garage on his head.

Natasha and Scott had joined the fight, along with Tony's new recruit, and then everything was chaos.

He hadn't wanted to fight any of them, but with T'Challa so hell-bent on revenge and the others fighting because Steve's recruits were fighting back, it couldn't be helped.

Steve pulled his punches where he could, trying to slow the others down or stop them without doing too much damage, but everything was at a standstill.

They were running out of time, and everyone knew it.

"In order to win this fight, some of us may have to lose it," Clint called over the coms, and the others agreed. Some of them would have to get left behind.

They would need to stay and distract Tony and the others so the jet could take off.

He couldn't take everyone.

The plan changed to essential personnel only: Steve, Bucky, and Wanda.

Wanda to force their way into the lab and take out the soldiers, Bucky to protect her in the ensuing fight, and Steve to take up the front line as a distraction. Clint would stay, because it was a lot less risky for him here and Steve knew how to fly the jet. Scott would stay as well - Steve didn't want to get the new recruit into more trouble than he had to - and Sam would stay to monitor things from the other end and try to talk Tony around. Maybe if the man heard the story from someone besides Steve, he might believe it.

It wasn't ideal by a long shot, but it was doable, so that's what they did.

Scott turned giant, Clint and Sam rushed into the fight, and Steve took off for the jet with Bucky, hoping that Wanda could keep up with a pair of super soldiers as they raced to escape.

For a while it worked - Scott kept the others busy, with Clint and Sam distracting the stragglers, and he was within a few hundred yards of the jet, Bucky at his side.

But Wanda wasn't with them.

The little witch was falling behind, not used to quite so much running with her normal training regime, and Steve had the fleeting thought that he may have to add cardio to the workout schedule for everyone before a horrible crunching sound drew his attention up.

The radio tower on the corner of the building was crumbling, falling toward the open hangar where their jet was waiting. They wouldn't get there in time. It was going to block them off.

He and Bucky had just started to slow down when a scarlet light blanketed the underside of the falling tower, stopping its collapse.

A glance back showed Wanda, twisted around half sideways with strain, holding up the building for them, and Steve didn't waste a second as he turned and ran for the jet. She wouldn't be able to hold something that heavy for long.

Sure enough, the magic spluttered out as he and Bucky reached the rubble, and the pair of them just barely made it through before it collapsed across the entrance in a cloud of dust.

When Natasha stepped to block their path inside the hangar, Steve had thought that maybe they wouldn't get away after all. When it came to trust, however, he and Nat had been through the ringer together. She would always have his back when he needed her the most.

She let him and Bucky go.

T'Challa tried to catch them one final time as he used the jet's guns to blast the rubble away, but Natasha bought them some time and the man couldn't get them.

Hoping that the king wouldn't go after Natasha for helping him, he took off.

Steve circled the airport for half a lap, trying to get eyes on the others. Scott was on the ground, back to normal size and down for the count, and so was Clint. Wanda was also sprawled on the cement, and for a second Steve debated having Sam swoop in and grab her - have him fly her up to the jet so he could bring her along - but Vision was hovering to her side and Tony was closing in on their tail with Rhody, and Steve didn't have a choice.

He either had to leave now or they would all be captured.

Two people trying to stop the super soldiers was better than none, and at the very least they might be able to take a couple of them out before Zemo started taking over the world. He couldn't risk going back for her.

The plan got re-formed again.

Steve and Bucky punch their way into the lab, and either take out the super soldiers or die trying. If they could beat Zemo to waking the soldiers up, all the better. He would come back for the others after.

Steve's com lines were dead, so he didn't hear Sam shout when the man suddenly dropped out of his sights, along with Tony and Rhody.

Steve didn't have time to loop around, and simply had to assume that they'd been called back.

He would have to trust that his teammates would look after each other without him.

The clock was ticking.

He needed to get to Siberia before Zemo.


End file.
